Carton with removable identification sleeve



Oct. 20, 1970 CARTON WITH REMOVABLE IDENTIFICATION SLEEVE Filed Aug. 6, 1968 2 Sheets- Sheet l I! rrllrrrl I1 A :INVENTOR G'UELFU AMQNIZZA ORNEYS cs. A. MANIZZA 3,534,898

v G. A. MANIZZA CARTON WITH REMOVABLE IDENTIFICATION SLEEVE 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Oct. 20, 1970 Filed Aug. 6. 1968 PIG.4

INVENTOR GUELFO H. MDNIZZH Flag/L A'ITORNiSY 5 "IIIII!!IIIJ United States Patent 3,534,898 CARTON WITH REMOVABLE IDENTIFICATION SLEEVE Guelfo A. Manizza, Blauvelt, N.Y., assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 750,699 Int. Cl. B65d 65/02 US. Cl. 229--38 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a carton which has a decorative appearance of a nature so as to form a satisfactory gift package without further wrapping and wherein the carton is provided with a removable identification sleeve. The sleeve is preferably formed of a transparent material and the connection thereof to an exposed surface of the carton is provided with a removable identifiction sleeve. in the adhesive is colored to blend with the decorative appearance of the carton so as to not be readily detectable when the identification sleeve is removed from the carton thereby preserving the decorative appearance of the carton.

This invention particularly relates to a carton in which a product may be readily packaged in a conventional manner and wherein the carton has an ornamental appearance which does not require further wrapping for the carton to serve as a gift package. It will be readily apparent that inasmuch as the carton is intended to be utilized in a gift package without the further wrapping thereof, it is undesirable that the carton have imprinted thereon identifying indicia. At the same time, it is also obvious that the contents of the carton must be known both to the seller and original purchaser thereof while at the same time being concealed from the receiver of the gift.

In accordance wih this invention it is proposed to provide the carton with a removable sleeve, which sleeve is an identification sleeve. The immediate problem arises as to how the sleeve may be secured to the carton in such a manner whereby it will in no way interfere with the forming of the carton, it will remain attached to the carton during the normal handling thereof, and may be readily removable by the person giving the carton and its contents as a gift without detracting from the ornamental appearance of the carton.

In the formation of cartons, it is customary to provide a body seam which includes a glue flap integrally connected to one body panel and extending within the carton with the glue flap being adhesively secured to the inner surface of another of the body panels. In accordance with this invention, the identification sleeve is formed from an elongated strip which has one end thereof adhesively secured to the outer surface of the glue flap and thus concealed within the body seam. The sleeve forming strip is provided with a second end which is folded around the another body panel and also is concealed within the body seam. In this manner, the identification sleeve is firmly secured to the carton, but at the same time may be removed therefrom with those portions of the identification sleeve which may remain attached to the carton remaining concealed within the body seam.

Although in the completed carton the two ends of the sleeve forming strip may be concealed within the body seam, it is to be understood that the sleeve forming strip must be secured to the carton blank and the carton blank, with the strip attached thereto, must be readily susceptible of being automatically formed into the carton. Therefore, while the one end of the strip may be secured to the glue ice flap, some means must be provided for temporarily securing the other end portion of the strip to the carton blank. At the same time, this securing means must be of a nature wherein it is not readily detectable either while the sleeve is secured to the carton or after the sleeve is removed therefrom.

In view of the foregoing, it is a further and primary feature of this invention to provide a temporary and releasable connection between the sleeve forming strip and the carton blank at a point remote from the glue flap, the connection being formed by a releasable adhesive, which adhesive is colored to blend with the decorative appearance of the carton so as to not be readily detectable at any time, either before or after removal of the sleeve from the finished carton.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the carton blank with the sleeve forming strip attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional View taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 and shows the details of the releasable connection between the strip and the carton blank.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 and shows the details of the connection between the strip and the glue flap.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of the assembled carton.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 4 and shows the carton in a rotated position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 5 and shows an initial step in the removal of the sleeve.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a final removal step of the sleeve.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 5 and shows specifically the details of the body seam and the manner in which the ends of the sleeve forming strip are secured therein.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 8 and shows the carton after the sleeve has been removed therefrom.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 a carton which is formed in accordance with this invention, the carton being generally referred to by the numeral 10. At this time, it is pointed out that although reference is being made to a carton, it may be truly stated that what is shown is a package in that the carton can, as it appears in FIGS. 4 and 5, have packaged therein a product. It is also to be understood that the carton 10 has a surface treatment so as to have a decorative appearance whereby the carton with the product packaged therein is suitable for giving as a gift without further wrapping. However, in order that the contents of the carton may be identified for packaging, shipment, sale, ete., prior to the actual giving of the package as a gift, the carton is provided with an identification sleeve 11. Since the package will be given as a gift, it is desirable that the identification sleeve 11 is that initially it is a permanent part of the way detract from the decorative appearance of the final gift package. A further requirement of the identification sleeve 11 is that initially it is a premanent part of the carton so that it cannot be merely telescoped thereover. Therefore, it is necessary that the identification sleeve 11 be an initial part of the carton before it is erected.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that there is illustrated the details of a blank, which is generally identified by the numeral 12, from which the carton 10 is formed. The carton 12 is preferably formed of paperboard which has a suitable decorative external coating. Inasmuch as the manner in which the carton blank 12 and the resultant carton are decorated in of itself is not a part of this invention, no further details thereof will be given here.

It is to be noted that the carton blank 12 is generally rectangular in outline and the central portion thereof is provided with a plurality of fold lines 13, 14 and 15 dividing the central portion of the carton blank 12 into body panels 16, 17, 18 and 19, respectively. A glue flap 20 is attached to the body panel 16 along a fold line 21. On the other hand, the body panel 19 has a free edge.

Referring once again to FIG. 4, it is to be understood that the carton 10 has suitable closed ends of which only the top end 22 is illustrated. The ends of the carton 10 may be formed in any desired manner although it is desirable that the bottom end be permanently sealed and the top end 22 be readily closeable and openable with the top end 22 further having the general appearance of folded gift wrapping.

In order that the bottom end of the carton 10 may be readily formed, the carton blank 12 is provided with bottom closure flaps 23, 24, and 26 which are separate from one another and which are hingedly connected to respective ones of the body panels 16-19 along a transverse fold line 27.

The top end 22 of the carton 10 is formed by a plurality of closure flaps 28, 29, and 31 which are separate from one another and are connected to respective ones of the body panels 16-19 along a transverse fold line 32. At this time, it is particularly pointed out that the details of the various closure flaps are not a part of this invention and therefore, the closure flaps will not be described further hereinafter.

It is to be understood that in erecting the carton 10 from the blank 12, adhesive will be applied to the inner surface of the body panel 19 adjacent the free edge thereof and the exterior surface of the glue flap 20 will be bonded to the interior surface of the body panel 19. At this time, the carton can still be in a relatively flat state and shipped in this condition. Also, when the body portion of the carton blank is bonded together, the closure flaps 23 and 24 and the closure flaps 25 and 26 may be adhesively bonded together. Then, when it is desired to erect the carton, an interlock will be formed between the closure flaps 23 and 25 to form the closed bottom end of the carton. After the product has been placed within the erected carton, the closure flaps 28, 29, 30 and 31 may be folded into interlocking relation.

The problem which this invention solves is the attachment of the identification sleeve 11 to the carton 10. As is clearly shown in FIG. 1, the identification sleeve 11 is provided in the form of an elongated strip 34. The strip 34 extends transversely across the body panels 16 through 19 and has one end 35 overlying the glue flap 20 and permanently secured thereto by means of a suitable adhesive 36. The strip 34 is of a length so as to extend beyond the free edge of the body panel 19 whereby ultimately, the second end 37 of the strip 34 may be folded around the free edge of the body panel 19.

In order that the strip 34 may be retained in place during the forming or erection of the carton, it is necessary that the strip 34 be additionally secured to the carton blank. Although the strip 34 is not secured to the body panels 16, 17 and 18, it does have a minor releasable connection with the body panel 19. It is to be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2 that this minor releasable connection is formed by two small dots of an adhesive 38. The dots of adhesive 38 will be only of sufficient area to temporarily hold the strip 34 in place.

It is to be understood that the adhesive 38 will have at least two requirements. First, it must be of the nonsetting, generally tacky type whereby separation of the strip 34 from the surface of the body panel 19 may readily take place without any damaging of the body panel 19 or the permanent bonding of any portion of the strip 34 thereto. Secondly, the adhesive 38 must have a coloring which will blend with the decorative appearance of the surface of the carton 10 so as to not be readily detectable once the sleeve 11 is removed from the carton 10. It is to be understood that the coloring of adhesive 38 may include transparency so that it will not be detectable.

It will be readily apparent that when the strip 34 is so secured to the carton blank 12, the carton blank 12 may be folded and adhesively bonded together in the manner described above in the formation of the carton 10 in the normal manner. When the carton is erected, as appears in FIGS. 4 and 5, the strip 34 will have the appearance of a sleeve and is so identified by the numeral 11. As is clearly shown in FIG. 8, the sleeve forming strip 34 will have the first end 35 and the second end 36 thereof concealed within the body seam of the carton 10, the body seam being identified by the numeral 40. It will be seen from FIG. 8 that the first end 35 is secured to the glue flap 20 by the adhesive 36 while the second end 37 will be secured to the inner surface of the body panel 19 by means of adhesive 41. The adhesive 41 is that adhesive which is applied to the inner surface of the free edge portion of the body panel 19 and where there is no portion of the strip 34, the adhesive 41 will serve to bond the outer surface of the glue flap 20 to the inner surface of the body panel 19.

At this time it is pointed out that the identification sleeve 11 is preferably formed of a transparent material having identifying indicia 42 printed thereon. However, it is to be understood that the identification sleeve 11 may be of any construction. Inasmuch as the adhesive spots 38 blend with the decorative appearance of the carton blank 10, it will be apparent that even though the strip 11 may be transparent, the adhesive 38 will not be readily apparent.

When it is desired to give the carton 10 and its contents as a gift, it is not necessary to wrap the carton. It is merely necessary to remove the identification sleeve 11. This is accomplished by tearing the same from the carton 10 in the manner generally shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. After the sleeve 11 has been removed from the carton 10, the ends 35 and 37 of the strip will remain attached to the carton 10, but will be concealed within the body seam 40. Thus, the carton will have a pleasing appearance suitable for presentation as a gift without further wrapping, and at the same time the recipient Will not have knowledge of the contents thereof.

Although the second end 37 of the strip 34 normally will be bonded into the side seam 40, it is to be understood that, if desired, adhesive need not be applied to that portion of the body panel 19 about which the second end 37 is wrapped, and thereby the end 37 of the strip 34 will not be secured to the carton and may be readily pulled out of the body seam 40.

It is to be understood that although only a preferred embodiment of the carton construction and the blank for forming the same has been specifically illustrated and described herein, minor variations may be made in the carton construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new:

1. A carton blank comprising a generally rectangular sheet having fold and cut lines formed therein and defining a plurality of centrally located and adjacent body panels having end forming flaps at opposite ends thereof, a glue flap along one of said body panels, said carton blank having an outer surface with a decorative appearance, and a removable identification sleeve defining strip extending transversely across said body panels in overlying relation to said outer surface and having one end secured to said glue flap, said sleeve being free from said body panels with the exception of the one body panel disposed remote from said glue flap, and said sleeve having a minor releasable connection with said one body panel adjacent an edge thereof remote from said glue flap, said minor releasable connection being formed of a releasable tacky adhesive disposed directly between the inner surface of said sleeve and the outer surface of said one body panel.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein said sleeve is formed of a transparent material having identifying indicia thereon ornamentally cooperative with said decorative appearance and said adhesive being colored to blend in with said decorative appearance so as not to be readily detectable.

3. The carton blank of claim 1 wherein said adhesive is colored to blend in with said decorative appearance so as to be not readily detectable when said sleeve is removed.

4. The carton of claim 1 wherein said strip extends loosely beyond said one body panel free of securement thereto for folding around the free edge thereof and for clamping in between said one body panel and said glue flap.

5. A carton comprising a body and ends and said carton having an over-all decorative appearance of a gift package, said body being formed of a plurality of integrally connected body panels with there being a body searn at one corner of said carton, said body seam including a glue flap integrally connected to one of said body panels and being disposed within said carton, and an adhesive securing an outer face of said glue flap to an inner face of another of said body panels, and said carton further comprising a removal contents identifying sleeve, said sleeve extending around said carton body and being formed of a strip having one end secured to said glue flap and being concealed within said body seam, said sleeve forming strip having a second end folded around said another body panel and being loosely and releasably concealed within said body seam, said sleeve forming strip being free of said body panels with the exception of said another body panel and having a minor releasable connection with the exterior surface of said another body panel adjacent said body seam whereby said sleeve may be readily torn from said carton with all remaining portions thereof being concealed within said body seam, said minor releasable connection is formed of a releasable tacky adhesive disposed directly between the inner surface of said sleeve forming strip and the outer surface of said another body panel.

6. The carton of claim 5 wherein said sleeve is formed of a transparent material having identifying indicia thereon ornamentally cooperative with said decorative appearance and said adhesive being colored to blend in with said decorative appearance so as to be not readily detectable.

7. The carton blank of claim 5 wherein said adhesive is colored to blend in with said decorative appearance so as to be not readily detectable when said sleeve is removed.

8. The carton of claim 5, wherein said sleeve forming strip second end is secured in place only by its position within said body seam between said another body panel and said sleeve forming strip one end.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,950,040 8/1960 Boldine 229-38 3,343,750 9/1967 Desmond et al. 3,424,367 1/1969 Desmond et a1 22938 3,445,053 5/1969 Lotz. 3,459,358 8/1969 Adams.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 229--87 

